LOST HIGHWAY

by Zac Funstein

  Jesus was at that time the College most favoured by current Canadian youth: this was quite enough for Edelio. Quiñónez ultimately selected Trinity Hall, as appearing to him to offer the distinction of Trinity with its cosmopolitan flavour, plus a scientific instead of a legal tradition. His father Waskar wanted Quiñónez to be called at the English bar before returning to practice in Manitoba but his son had desisted despite stirring up deep trouble. In due course Edelio took as good a maths/chemistry degree as required then proceeded. In connection with his university life little can be said he had some original boasts: he had never been seen inebriated or ‘high’, never played any game (that is any physical sport of any kind), only once lost at roulette/chemin de fer.

  Conversely ‘Bertie’ had added appreciably to his income by intelligent betting on Newmarket course. Temperament, character plus attainment seemed to have combined to produce the perfect scientist in him, who was infinitely critical but himself impervious to criticism, while possessed of a capital gift of insolence. The man, however, was not so perfect; even the gentleman may exhibit certain flaws.

  Better traits were a playful fancy an essential geniality which suggested more of mischief than of malice in the real man; the pose, however, was that of uncompromising critic of everyone in his acquaintance, plus every country in which ground was touched. Of these one of his sisters had latterly become very conscious; ‘Bertie’ would formerly have been called ‘a terror,’ an epithet which the still endeavoured to deserve, though he no longer made use of it himself. Captious, omniscient, Quiñónez revelled in the uses of raillery plus of repartee. Nothing pleased him more than to combat the theories of persons whom he had no occasion to conciliate-the ‘pampered darlings’ of the scientific establishment. Edelio could take any side on any question, as became the profession but never ceased from practising. This was someone who destroyed illusions as other men destroy using conventional weaponry, seldom made a new acquaintance without securing a fair bag.

  It was the then current opinion that JHW needed no further addition but that seemed to rub him up the wrong way.Thus the first of the settings was born of this internal wrangle- Testosterone was given life.

  In the relative comfort of Otávio’s sparse office Ervina Lozada Archuleta tried to depict Bertie’s JHW Testosterone as it really was.

  “In those days scholars filled themselves with a curious jumble of theology, philosophy plus….”

  Rocha switched off-this was old women's talk-a lifetime of treating men like they were escapees from a kindergarten. They did it so often that they didn’t realise how annoying they were. A really cliched exponent might add how Kings of Italy might envy Nuremberg burgesses-don’t ask about what that was, because no one alive knew anymore-but it cropped up with alarming regularity. Æneas Sylvius was usually in there -whoever Æneas Sylvius was.

  “Otávio you’re not listening to us.”

  “Lost for a moment not to worry Ervina. Cut the hyperbole tell us more about Learco Melgar Segura.”

  Segura seemed to have taken Edelio’s JHW Testosterone regulation very much as his own in his capacity of frontier man. The terms came into vogue when tolerably well-defined lines marked the onset of civilization when all beyond was wilderness, but had changed since then. It still has a geographical import plus another suggesting a peculiar civilization plus a certain characteristic mode of life, but more importantly there were frontiers of science too. Learco was one such man.

  “As a teenager Learco was at liberty to indulge in the impetuosity of his character. From his early youth Segura had manifested an interest in SALIGIA rare in those haughty by nature, self-restrained by education. Scarcely out of the nursery, Segura spent his time in climbing mountains, scaling precipices, inhaling the wind, defying the tempests, breathing out his chi-force.”

  “Never heard of chi-force.”

  “It was something Learco created that was believed to lead to acedia don’t ask how. Sometimes it was called inner-power.Learco created it anyway.”

  “Possibly Segura learnt in the midst of every kind of danger to brave everything subdue everything; possibly in sympathy with the majesty of nature, the chi-force aroused in him a need of personal grandeur which nothing could satiate. In vain his father sought to calm his innate savagery; then restrain his vagabond temper; nothing sadly was of any use. As obstinate as intractable, our subject set full-force at defiance all efforts/ precautions (like the JHW Testosterone chi-force seemed to have various settings). If they shut him up Segura broke the lock or (worse) jumped out of the window; if they threatened him, the youngster pretended to comply, conquered by dread, promised faithfully everything that was required but only to break his word at the first opportunity. I can stop here if you want Otávio.”

  “Continue if you would Ervina-I like something about where this is leading.”

  “The inner-power creator had a tutor specially attached to his person charged to supervise all his actions, constantly deluded her by fresh tricks, then when our subject-matter believed himself free from the consequences, Segura maltreated him with gross violence. It was only in his youth, after his father's passing, that our interest became more manageable; even consenting to learn to read, to please his mother, whose idol the acedia-buff was, to whom in return all his affection was given. Although this was very difficult for him.”

  “Was Segura dyslexic?”

  “Not to my ever having been told -certainly the priest that taught him made a profound impression for his description of the set up was quite painstakingly delineated. If you could stood beside the reading-desk; on one side there was a stained window of the side-aisle the Holy Ghost that hovered over the Virgin; next to this Mary knelt before the Child Jesus, then by the altar, a group representing Saint Schingert felling Mordred with a brass sword.”

  This quite violent scene had been banned by the early church for being too gory.

  “Is there any more Ervina?”

  “Saint Schingert is the patron saint of chastity. Segura’s parents were part of an ongoing fanatical secular assault that took Schingert as a deity-they sought to portray attraction as a giant party-pooper, they were hell-bent on crushing any pleasure in reproduction, reducing copulation to nothing more than a cold/sterile act of baby-making.”

  “Tell us more of the early years if you would.”

  “The priest first read a condensed lesson of sacred history if accounts are to be believed. Paradise, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the blazing cities, the dying nations, the shattered idols-the works-all that biblical stuff; out of this Segura developed a great respect for the Almighty but more importantly a respect of His wrath. Then, when Learco had listened to the Passion, the JHW Testosterone buff wept. Why had they in supposed ignorance crucified Him who loved little children, nourished the people, made the blind see, who, out of humility had wished to be born among the poor in a stable was an unknown factor in the equation.”

  “Sounds like there is an interesting slant to this.”

  “All those familiar things which the Scriptures mentioned were sanctified by the Holy Ghost naturally enough but the infant Learco found it hard, however, to picture the latter as a person, for was it not sometimes only a breath? Perhaps it is something that hovers over swamps. The youngster worshipped devoutly, whilst enjoying the coolness plus the stillness of the church but this problem of describing the ineffable gave him great difficulty surely even the most wretched of mortals would not dare to falsify the identity of the Father of Life!”

  “This is all very interesting but where does Learco Melgar Segura hang out? His talents could prove very useful whatever his past.”

  “Despite his trembling borne out of early Parkinson's disease, Segura can still jog with some jerky movements-so his appearance with iPod is fairly regular.There is a group of kids who call themselves the Huns-Segura is called Attila because despite his S American heritage I believe either his mother or father is Nordic. I told him this was a group of losers but nothing w
ill change him then there is the Content Light-Switch Marketing furniture store….”

  “Don’t say any more Ervina I know it-a few years ago , I was strolling through town window-shopping when I was stopped in my tracks. There in my range of vision was a store that carried the kind of mattresses I was used to in Westwood. Since I lived in Canada I have asked so many times if I should have my sister ship my mattress to here. Shipping was tricky, but I missed it so much.”

  “Well Learco is a co-owner with his partner Vicente S. Barclay.”

  The assistant that welcomed Otávio wore a uniform that proclaimed that the wearer was from Evin Rehab Features. Rocha knew the center- a community-based correctional program that aims to help nonviolent offenders transition into the community. The photographs from the day were used in publications put out by the society other promotional material.

  “I have come to see Mr. Segura if you could tell him I’ve arrived,” asked the caller starchily.

  “Certainly,” replied the helpful-staff then went into what amounted to an adjacent storage-space where no doubt mattresses were piled up to the ceiling.

  The store-owner wearing reading glasses plus his buttoned-up sweater duly appeared.

  They seemed affable enough certainly. After Ervina’s graphic description Otávio had painted a more vibrant personality that bore no relation to this person who stood before him.

  “Mr. Rocha-I recognise you from the selfie you sent- you have come about the JHW Testosterone. Excuse us if I pause but the mention of Testosterone seems to invoke various aphrodisiacs despite only being a convenient tag. But this is not a good scenario to discuss such allow us to take you to my office-do not be intimidated by this it hardly amounts to much.”

  It was fairly basic it was true as was the fact the few people huddled together there had the dress/appearance of moderns; it was so that electric radiators kept them warm; yet Dante himself, in painting the circles of his Inferno, could not have imagined a drearier more despondent group than these that slouched, drooped then muttered in that cavernous recess, or moodily pacing back/forth like captives who can hope for no escape.

  At the sight of Segura the dismal gathering scattered as if staying out of visual range was probably sensible lest they were dismissed.

  They perched on up-turned packing cases. Spilling out of similar were table covers, needlework patterns, needle worked fire screens, valances for mantels ,beds, needlework upholstery plus sewing tools.

  Padded valances plus floor-length curtains concealed the architectural beauty of the bay- windows.

  “We were going to get into valances in a big way but the mattresses took over. We hadn’t intended them too-they just seemed to multiply. But again that is not why you are here-I must tell perhaps as preamble how I got into JHW.”

  “That might be interesting true Segura.”

  “Nothing was further from my intention, when I discovered the ‘Relax Drug’ Kibble, than the realization that it would lead us all through as strange ghastly/revealing a series of adventures as any person alive has ever experienced or is ever likely to. I encountered it, in a way, as a mere by-product of my experiments; I am a chemist by profession, so as one of the staff of the Civic Passion Foundation have access to some of the best equipped laboratories in Ontario.When the others had gone home I began tinkering around casually at first then with more seriousness.”

  “You loved what you did Learco.”

  “Cold fusion-that is an attempt to get fusion to occur under less extreme conditions, possibly as a result of chemical reactions-was our initial aim. However, you must be made clear that an enormous amount of energy is required in order for these reactions to occur at all - that is why fusion is not yet a practical source of energy.However there was a small reward-the startling new compound—I must call it that, though I did not create it deliberately—came to us in the course of my investigations into the obscure depths of the human attraction pheromone.The history of creators is generally the same old struggle with poverty we were no different.”

  Segura goes over to a chest of drawers then having removed a key from his pocket opened the top drawer to examine the contents. He opens the envelope,unfastened the elastic strap took out a sepia photograph in which a portrait of a pair of men has been cut in half to form one composite image-as if together they formed a new personality.

  “Sir Richard Arkwright, the youngest of several children, with no education, a barber, shaving in a cellar for next-to-nothing dies after being knighted by the King for his improvements in spinning. Elias Howe, Jr., in want/ sorrow, lives similarly impecunious in a London attic, dies similarly feted for his sewing-machines. Success comes only through hard work plus determined perseverance. The steps to honor, or wealth, or fame, are not easy to climb Otávio.”

  Rocha who had Scottish ancestry agreed.

  “The history of James Watt, to whom I am related the creator of modern rail travel, is no exception to the rule of struggling to win. Born in the little town of Greenock, Scotland. Too delicate to attend school, Jim was taught reading by his mom, plus a little writing/arithmetic by his dad. When a toddler Watt would draw mechanical lines, circles on the hearth, with chalk. His favorite play was to take carpenter tools, then make them into different ones. But I digress tell us more about JHW.”

  “It has long been my theory that there is a psychicness which can exist outside of us for at least brief periods then have perceptions which are not unlike those of the physical sensations. In accordance with these views, I had been developing various drugs, compounded of morphine plus adrenalin, whose object was to shock the psychic entity loose so to widen the range/ powers of the attractiveness. I shall not go into my researches deeply, nor tell by what accident I succeeded better than I had anticipated; the all-important fact—a fact so overwhelming that I shudder then gasp and marvel even as I tell of it—is that I did obtain a minute quantity of a drug which became the JHW acedia testing-agent we have come to know/respect. But why take my word for it read this.”

  A report, which had lurked in the same envelope was unfolded then given to Otávio who pulled it out then thumbed through the pages, each one marked SECRET:Most of the material in the report summary was already public, albeit not as graphically as depicted here.

  “There are a pair of JHW Testosterone A or B. I only deal strictly with A. You’re gonna have to found out which this is.”

  On nearing London the express-train slowed down as though reluctant to leave the less crowded suburbs. Several times it halted so the passenger consulted his Oulm Steel Quartz Watches for Men with Quartz Analog Round Dial in Fashion Design with a frown. Then the train crept through Battersea, wound across Battersea Bridge past the power-station then came to rest in Victoria Station. Despite his lameness, Estevan Pinto Alves was the first passenger to get off. Estevan had no luggage to attend to, save the newly-purchased American Tourister Suitcase Bon Air Spinner which seemed to go wherever Alves did. Crowdfunding was quickly becoming a proving ground for innovative design concepts in fashion/ tech-so luggage had recently had great progress with suitcases like these. Estevan wasted no time in hurrying down the platform; however there was the added handicap that when Estevan hurried his limp became more pronounced. Passing through the noisy barrier that sounded as if in need of a good service the agent slackened his pace. By reason of his greater stature Alves could glance above the crowd; his gaze went questing in all directions. Failing to find what they sought the newly arrived delayed until nearly all the people from the incoming trains had scuttled into the tunnels of the Underground; then, masking his disappointment, wandered out into the station-yard to hail a taxi. A BMW drew up against the curb. A thrill of hostility shot through him. Estevan viewed it casually was about to pass on, when a teenage-girl in the rear began frantically waving. The vehicle seemed crammed as if there was hardly enough room.

  Alves recognised Ingrid dressed in the latest whim of fashion. Ingrid had been last seen partially clad being dragged off
screaming by orderlies to a waiting ambulance. They had cordoned off the estate after that then began searching for drugs. The driver who was called André Martins Azevedo had a brother that was an amateur boxer who was irreparably damaged by concussion. Estevan got in then without knowing why.

  “Comment allez vous Estevan-longtemps je ne vous vois pas?”asked Ingrid in her terrible French.”I trust your rail experience was good.”

  “It was nice to see Victoria station again such a fascinating architecture- as soon as people can stop seeing the Victorians as stuffy moralists that they were in fact very sensual/ rich then they will wake up. We find it hard to realise that not so very long ago the rail-engine plus the electric telegraph were unknown; we are correct when we say that life must have worn a very different aspect in those days. ”

  Someone (it was never accurately determined who) said.

  “It is generally agreed that the foundations of modern chemistry were laid by Dalton around Victorian times. Dalton revived the old atomic theory, determined the weights of the atoms plus the proportions in which they are combined into molecules—the smallest particles which could exist in a free condition-Dalton rocked.”

  Estevan wanted to say how there were other similar stations from around then- most of these imposing in size adorned with great monuments/statuary, but their most conspicuous feature was their immaculateness - itself an aspect of democratic culture but the engine cranked to life, André felt a huge weight drop putting the car into gear flooring the accelerator making a U turn, going towards wherever they were going. Through the requisite ‘how was your journey’ preamble they weaved through the metropolis streets.